Government to unify state IT systems to help businesses

Budapest, June 10 (MTI) – By 2018 Hungary will link up 300 IT systems of public administration that have so far worked separately in order to improve business competitiveness, state secretary Zoltán Kovács told a conference on Friday.

Addressing the closing event of a conference on reducing red tape linked to the business sector, Kovács said the government is committed to helping businesses and has organised more than 20 conferences on these subjects since January with the participation of over 1,000 companies. The government will look into the legal issues businesses raised at these forums, Kovács said.

Economy ministry deputy state secretary Zsuzsanna Szeleczki said the transformation of the tax authority is under way, with the focus shifting to supporting the competitiveness of market players. An exemplary dialogue has developed between participants in public administration and the government is expecting feedback about the measures introduced, she added.

Sándor Demján, the head of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ), described red tape in Hungary as a “tumour impossible to destroy” for thirty years. Any country that cannot adjust its state administration costs to others will cease to exist because its residents will leave to work abroad. Efficiency expectations should be adjusted in public administration to the business sector , he added.

In response, Kovács said progress has been made in adjusting salaries to performances, with a new wage regulation system entering into force in July.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters